I'm back home to help the local music industry grow

What you need to know:

  • Sauti Sol are our biggest artistes at the moment and they go to South Africa many times. I had a film crew from South Africa yesterday and we were talking about Sauti Sol and they were like ‘who?’ For me, that’s a problem. As an artiste I can’t stand alone, the industry has to be bigger for me to be successful. 
  • I love being a mother and it’s the most important thing to me. I want them to be proud that their mother loves them and is always there for them. I learnt from my mother how to work hard, so that’s another thing which is valuable to me and has got me here. 
  • Blogs thrive off these stories and those people who are entertained by that kind of stuff are not my target audience. Plus, which woman on the planet doesn’t gain weight when she has children? To be honest, I like my weight because I have a nice behind now

Where did you go? It felt like you were a little quiet for a while.

I didn’t go quiet, I was in South Africa. If you look at my YouTube page, you will see that I never went quiet at all. But you know Kenyans: out of sight, out of mind. I was signed to Gallo Records in South Africa; trying to get my name out there. 

Do you feel like you missed out on stuff back here, because, like you said, out of sight, out of mind?

No, not really. If there are fans who feel like I missed out, then they are not true fans. I was working and always releasing songs. I guess it’s radio and the rest of the media that kind of shut down on me. I don’t think I was missing out. 

How easy or hard is it to penetrate the South African music industry? Was it hard getting signed to Gallo?

I was signed in six months of being there. I don’t think their industry is that different from ours, we are all Africans. Our industries run the same, apart from the fact that they are lovers of their own music. Kenyans are lovers of other people’s music. I think I got to South Africa at the right time because it’s interested in what Africa is doing, rather than being stuck on its own stuff. I was received really well. 

Did you feel like you permanently wanted to stay in South Africa because of the warm reception you got?

I had that feeling for the first three years. But last year, I felt like God was calling me to come back home. Towards the end of last year, I felt like I had to promote my own country because our music doesn’t cross borders much; people out there don’t know us.

Sauti Sol are our biggest artistes at the moment and they go to South Africa many times. I had a film crew from South Africa yesterday and we were talking about Sauti Sol and they were like ‘who?’ For me, that’s a problem. As an artiste I can’t stand alone, the industry has to be bigger for me to be successful. 

What do you feel other industries across Africa are doing differently, or better, than Kenya?

There is a lot of support from corporates, for example, and people do go to watch shows. If we don’t love our stuff, why should anybody else love it? If you don’t love yourself, why should anyone else love you? The other issue is that our music is very Kenyan, anyone trying to cross musical borders has to go commercial. Kenyans are very emotional about their music, if the people at home don’t show you love, why don’t you just do music that doesn’t have a tribe or country? We struggle; making a proper track is expensive and people are not paying for shows. Our songs are not getting played over and over. There are many issues that need to be fixed but overall we have a good industry. 

Your new song, ‘Sweet Love’, sounds a bit different from what you normally do.

I think it’s because there is an element of jazz in it; it’s sort of an afro jazz sound. My sound has totally changed since I left, it’s moving towards my real passion, which is jazz and R-n-B. So this was a soft landing to that. 

What will make your studio stand out, since there are already established music studios in Kenya?

No, there are not. 

Really? I beg to differ

Who gets on a plane and goes to Kenya to record because ‘that studio is the bomb?’ I haven’t found it and that’s what I want to set up. Kenya does not have proper mastering equipment, which is very expensive. Here, you’ll do a song in a day and it’s out the next. Out there, it takes almost a week to produce, master and mix it. I guess that’s why those songs sound different. I’ve heard there are people who have set up studios but I have been away for a while, so maybe things have changed. I want to build a studio where I can bring in foreign producers and give artistes opportunities to work with them and see what that process is like. Music is not a fast thing to create. 

Aren’t there any Kenyan producers you would want to work with?

Like I said, things don’t cross borders, so I have no idea what’s going on. I’m looking and I’m meeting people. I met Cedo the other day and we will work together this week. When we met, it was clear that we have different sounds. The idea is to collaborate on that and learn from each other. I went to South Africa and I became a better artiste. But I’m not the best. Their’s (SA) is not the best either, but ours (Kenya), could be the greatest if we work together. 

Do you write your own songs?

Yes, but for Girls Night Out I wrote with Silvastone because it was the first time I was going into that kind of music. I’m more of Jazz and R-n-B, so I told him he had to show me since I was trying to get into a different style. 

You have two children now. What would you want them to be most proud of about you?

I love being a mother and it’s the most important thing to me. I want them to be proud that their mother loves them and is always there for them. I learnt from my mother how to work hard, so that’s another thing which is valuable to me and has got me here. 

Do you have a laid out plan for this year?

I want to release about five artistes under the studio, release several singles for my album, which will hopefully be in November, and launch my reality show, that’s about it. 

The blogs have been talking about your weight gain. Does it bother or motivate you to go to the gym?

Not at all, blogs thrive off these stories and those people who are entertained by that kind of stuff are not my target audience. Plus, which woman on the planet doesn’t gain weight when she has children? To be honest, I like my weight because I have a nice behind now (laughs). I’m very happy with my size, I was always the skinny girl and, believe it or not, I always tried to put on weight. 

Have you ever been conscious of your body image?

My issue was that I was too thin.